Improvement in beiiaying-cleats



@#citml (gisten @anni (title.

.CHARLES S. H. FOSTER, OF-DEER ISLE, MAINE.

Letters Patent No. 84,873, dated December 15, 1868. Y

IIWIPROVENIENT IN BELAYING-CLEA'TS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern v Be it known that I, CHARLESS: H. FOSTER, of Deer Isle, in the county of Hancock, and State of Maine, have invented anew and useful Vessels Cleat andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clean-and exact description of the construction and operation ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in Which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention;

Figure 2 is the same, with the sheet belayed upon it; and

Figure 3 is a similar View of a common cleat, with the sheet also belayed upon it. Y

Similar letters' of reference vindicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The nature of my invention consists in a cleat, formed with the usual'recesses, and horns on the ends, for making fast the rope or sheet, and also constructed with a central recess, in which the Astanding lpart of the sheet is secured, thereby. .preventingV the fouling of the sheet, attendant upon tackin'g, when the common cleat is used, and allowing at all times the taking in or letting out of the sheet, this cleat being peculiarly adapted to belaying the sheets of fore-and-aft sails.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

When the common cleat, A, iig. 3, is used, the vessel being on the port tack, the sheet would be belayed, as shown in this figure, so that, when the vessel was put upon the starboard tack, the standing part of the sheet would foul or override the coils upon the cleat,

as shown, rendering it difficult to cast it on', in case of letting out or hauling .in the sail, especially inheavy Weather, when it is iten necessary, in order to cast oilv the sheet, to attach a watch-tackle to the standing part 0f the sheet, and, by hauling it in and producing slack at the cleat, the coils are cast off, and the sail eased ofi or hauledaft, as is necessary.

Besides the foregoing diiculties attending the common cleat, is the fact that the trim of the sail is changed at each tack, for the reason that thestanding part of the sheet leaves the cleat oneA side of the centre, as

.shown; therefore, when sailing close-hauled, the trim of the sail must be changed at each tack.

To obviate the foregoing defects, I construct my cleat with the usual recesses, b b, and horns, B B, for belay'- ing the sheet, as shown in iigs. I and 2; and I also form an intermediate recess, c, figs. l and 2, through which the standing part c passes, as shown in iig. 2, so that, if the sheet be belayed when the vessel is on the port tack, as shown in fig. 2, and the tack be'changed to starboard, the standing part'will be in the position shown by red lines, fig. 2.

'.lhus, however the course of the vessel or the Wind may vary, the trim ofthe sail remains the same, as the sheet draws from the centre of the cleat, which is fixed amidships, and incase of hauling in or letting out the sheet, it is never fouled by the standing part, but is always free to be cast off, slacked out, or hauled in, as.. 

